Greece floats massive €415M biometrics, passport and ID contract

Greece has begun the process to tender a massive contract for new digital ID cards and digital government service capabilities, with a tender for a contract with an estimated worth of 415.6 million euros (roughly US$472.8 million) plus VAT.

The contract includes the production of ID cards for both Greek police and citizens as part of a new Integrated Information System for Security Documents (OPSEA), according to a machine translation of the tender notice. The tender includes a right to increase or decrease the value of the contract by up to 30 percent.

The winning bidder will be responsible for supplying and installing a digital citizen authentication system compliant with eIDAS 2.0 standards. A Citizen Identity Hub will be established to make the authentication system interoperable, and to provide the infrastructure for issuing qualified electronic signatures (QESs).

Greece’s government specifies that the full system must handle the entire project lifecycle, from registration and biometric enrollment through data management, personalization of secure ID documents and quality control.

The government wants the Integrated Information Management System for Security Documents and associated services related to digital identity and authentication to be delivered in 18 months. Within three years of the completion of the main project, Greece wants 6.42 million ID1-type documents (ID cards) and 1.05 million ID3-type documents (passport booklets) produced, followed by 32.58 million ID1 documents and 7.15 million ID3 documents within the next seven years.

That means with options, the contract could last up to 11.5 years altogether.

The contract will be awarded following a competitive dialogue process with a multi-phase award procedure.

Greece recently began issuing updated national ID cards with digital chips to meet EU requirements through a deal with Veridos back in 2023.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID infrastructure  |  government purchasing  |  Greece  |  national ID  |  tender